322 t He F i v e Dy na s t i e s anD t He s ong Dy na s t y
him, as are countless other moods and themes he wrote about. It is only by reading
hundreds or (in Lu You’s case) thousands of poems by the same Chinese poet that
we slowly develop a sense of what is important to him and how he reacts to events
and views his world. That is when we begin to get to know him as a writer and
perceive his uniqueness, his distinctive traits. But all the major poets, and Lu You
is certainly one of them, will display to us through their collected works a range
of emotions and viewpoints. That range may be astonishingly broad and may well
encompass apparent contradictions between individual works.
We find a similar focus on rural life in the following poems by Lu You’s contem-
porary Fan Chengda (1126–1193), but with a different tone:C 1 5. 7
Fields and Gardens Through the Four Seasons,
Random Inspirations: Spring, No. 10To plant a garden and get it to produce,
the worry matches the labor.
He cannot stand the thought of little boys
and sparrows diminishing it.
He has already stuck thorns in the ground
to protect the bamboo shoots,
Now he spreads out a fish net
to cover the cherry trees.
[QSS 41:27.26002]四時田園雜興, 春 (sì shí tián yuán zá xìng, chūn)
plant garden obtain produce worry equals labor 種園得果廑償勞 (zhòng yuán dé guŏ qín cháng láo)
cannot stand son boy bird sparrow harm 不奈兒童鳥雀搔 (bú nài ér tóng niăo què sāo)
already stick bramble needles protect bamboo shoot path 已插棘針樊筍徑 (yĭ chā jí zhēn fán sŭn jìng)
also spread fish net cover cherry cherry 更鋪漁網蓋櫻桃 (gèng pū yú wăng gài yīng táo)
[Tonal pattern Ia, see p. 171]
C 1 5. 8
Summer, No. 34In a lotus patch a thousand acres across
she goes boating for fun,
The flowers are so dense she loses her way,
and fails to come home at dusk.
Her family can discern indirectly
where her boat is,
Now and then she paddles anxiously,
small ducks rise up in flight.
[QSS 41:27.26004]